SData+ can read most vendor supplied device two-port data files having the standard .S2P three-letter DOS extension. These are formatted as standard ascii text files. They can, if you're careful, be created or edited with a program like Windows Notepad. The proviso is that the edit utility can not insert any control characters, etc. in to the file. Notepad meets this requirement.

These two-port .S2P vendor files may contain device s-data, noise data, or both. An example of a file that contains both is the NE02135A sample data file that was included with you installation.

Certain formats have become common in the industry, and SData+ can read them, or at least the ones we show below. Knowing this, any files you create should follow accepted format.

In addition to actual measured device data, vendor files frequently contain header  text. This type text is added to identify, or in some way clarify, how a device should be biased or connected. It may be as simple as just the type number of the device, or it may include details about bond wire length, etc. Given that a vendor file could contain both s-data and noise data, it may have two blocks of header text.

In an s-data file, each line has nine entries per line, while noise data has five entries per line. The first entry on any line is always the measurement frequency. The frequency may be either in terms of MHz or GHz.

This program does not work with four-port files which are those having a .S4P three-letter DOS extension.


There are six basic file structures that we're currently aware of, and that SData+ recognizes. Each of the six types is shown in a sketch below:






Each line, even a blank line, in a header text block must have a "!" exclamation character in first position on the far left.

From the descriptions of the various formats shown above, you'll recognize that the NE02135A device we've been working with is a TYPE 1.

The TYPE 1 file structure we've been using is the maximum sized file allowed. This max type file has four blocks of mixed text and data. A proviso here is that data cannot be interleaved, i.e., you cannot mix lines of s-data with noise data. Each type data must be in a block by itself, and the frequencies in each must be in ascending (low to high) order.

If you try to use SData+ to read a file that is different from one of the six types shown above, you'll either get a non-standard file message on-screen, or the file may be read incorrectly.

If you do come across a different type file structure than the six we currently support,  please let us know in detail. We'll add it to our list and give you a  f r e e  up-grade!